Heart of Darkness in CPL's Book a Week Challenge

Dec 27, 2020 Katelyn Moore rated it did not like it · review of another edition

I did not like this novel at all. Utilizing Marlow to tell this story was a cop out for Conrad's racism. The overall theme of the novel is arguable, of course, but what i took from it is that African people and those who are left "uncivilized" go mad, which is evident in the white character Mr. Kurtz. It was terrible representation for Africans, and I could not see past the implications. Others in my English 12 class thought the novel was great for its symbolism and literary elements, but I thou ...more

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Apr 12, 2012 Sunny rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: all-boxall, nook, 1315-read

While resting on the deck of a ship, Marlow recounts his story of steam-boating through Africa.

I loved, loved, loved the descriptions of the river, the people - I could almost feel the oppressive weight of the heat, could almost smell the rotten hippopotamus meat, could almost hear the unnatural silence. I was on tenterhooks for the first two-thirds of this story. Will Marlow ever make it to Kurtz's site? What will Kurtz be like?

And then Conrad lost me.

I'm a pretty attentive reader, but I couldn ...more

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Jul 17, 2019 Chama rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

I missed reading anything by Conrad in high school, and have finally come around. It was better than I expected or imagined. Even absurdly hilarious at times, in a heavy way. Beautiful sense of mood and time (timelessness?). The main narrator's (Marlow's) seeming swings between utter empathy and anxious indifference stood out to me as something so human in extreme circumstances.
I was lead to believe this would be a difficult read, but I didn't find that to be true. Will probably read again. 👌 ...more

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